Divorce Isn't That Bad for Your Health After All

A new study proves it.

Going through heartbreak might not wreak havoc on your actual heart. Though many studies have shown marriage can make you healthier, it turns out ending that marriage won't hurt your health in the long run.

Researchers from three universities in the U.K. used data from more than 10,000 British people born during a single week in March 1958. They checked on their relationship status at 23, 33, 42, and 46, and checked on their health when they were in their mid-40s.

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They found that a ring didn't make much difference when it came to relationships. People who cohabited with a partner long-term had the same health benefits as people who were married. Never committing to a partner had the worst impact on health; people who never married or lived together long-term had higher risks of heart disease and respiratory problems.

But getting divorced didn't harm health that much, especially if people found another partner after the split. They found that people who were divorced and remarried were just as healthy as people who stayed together. Some men even saw health benefits from divorcing; men who got divorced in their late 30s and didn't remarry were less likely to have type 2 diabetes later in life than men who stayed married.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that in general, health initially declines after the trauma of divorce, but people tend to bounce back to their pre-divorce health eventually. And though it's limited to a group of people born in the U.K. at a certain time, it's definitely a silver lining for divorced people everywhere.